Monday, October 19, 2015

Bridge of Spies

Director Steven Spielberg’s
Bridge
of Spies is a finely spun web of political gamesmanship that is based
on the true story that led to the exchange of convicted Russian spy Rudolf Abel
for American Pilot Francis Gary Powers.

The tight production starts with a strong script written by a
surprising collaboration of the Coen Brothers and Matt Charman that has come to
life with the realistic Production Design of Adam Stockhausen and the usual
brilliance of Cinematographer Janusz Kaminski.

While Tom Hanks is excellent as the insurance
lawyer James B. Donovan, who was wrangled by the CIA to engineer this exchange,
it is Mark Rylance, who gives the standout performance as Rudolf Abel.

The film tends to move along at a slow (but
comfortable) pace that is true to the slower moving times of the late ‘50s/early
‘60s.

In my opinion, the only error is in the overkill of one
needless shot at the end where Donovan views from a New York train a scene that
harkens back to something he saw happen from a train in Berlin.Since we’ve already gotten the point from the
shots just prior, this brings a groan rather than the intended feeling.

At its best, however, the film is a testament
to the honor that enemy combatants owe each other; something that seems to have
disappeared in this era.

About Me

Brian Porzak: I am a cinephile who likes to view films with a live audience. My taste runs the gamut, including indies, studio films, foreign films and most all genres. Because I see so many films, friends often ask me what to see. So, I thought I'd blog about what is worth seeing or not. As a writer/filmmaker myself, I hope to give a more uplifting perspective than the typical critic. Filmmaking is tremendously difficult. Just because some problems might exist in a particular work does not, necessarily, destroy its enjoyability and I think that is necessary to point out to would-be viewers.
See www.Aix-en-Film.com